While on a hike in a remote area, you discover a tunnel that you walk through. At the end of the tunnel, you are transported to another place and/or another time. Where are you?

Inspirational Quote

“The way that people feel changes everything. Feelings are forces. They cause us to time travel. And to leave ourselves, to leave our bodies. I would be that kind of psychologist who says ‘you’re absolutely right – there are monsters under the bed’.” – Helen Oyeyemi

On your eighteenth birthday, your mother reveals that you are not human. She presents you with a leather-bound book that explains your nonhuman origin. What are you? How does knowing this change your life?

Inspirational Quote

“You get ideas from daydreaming. You get ideas from being bored. You get ideas all the time. The only difference between writers and other people is we notice when we’re doing it.” – Neil Gaiman

After my four-year visit to Louisiana, South Carolina is welcoming me home with smiling faces and open arms. It is the state of palmetto trees, palmetto bugs (pterodactyl roaches), the shag, peaches, plantations, sweet tea, and sweetgrass baskets. I have missed it and am glad to be claiming it as my home again.

As for Cajunville, I have enjoyed my stay and have learned some things while living in the Pelican State. Here are a few of my observations:

Crawdads are best served “Hot and Juicy” (presumably…I never found the possibility of consuming them appetizing).

LSU fans will do anything to pay homage to their team…cheese carving included.

Louisiana has parishes instead of counties, and beignets instead of donuts.

Lagniappe (lan-yap) is a gratuitous gift with a purchase or “a little something extra”. I don’t remember getting anything extra with any of my purchases unless you count the mints I grabbed on the way out of restaurants. In Louisiana’s defense, four years wasn’t enough time to patronize every establishment.

A lucky shirt is required to catch big gators.

The Rougarou ventures out of the swamp and hunts Catholics who break the rules of Lent. (It’s good to be a Baptist in this state)

It’s HOT, it’s HUMID, and unlike southern California, it rains just about every day during the summer. Even if you’re not technically in a flood zone…trust me, you’re in a flood zone! Which brings up a question I’ve had from day one…why are all of these houses built on slabs? It would make more sense to build everything on stilts…just a thought.

It’s useful to know a little French so you can understand some of the local words and phrases such as Vieux Carre (voo ca-ray) – “old quarter” mainly pertaining to the oldest neighborhood in New Orleans, the French Quarter. Another word that may be handy to know for all of those voodoo emergencies is Gris Gris (gre-gre) – an object used to ward off evil. For those of you who are fans of the Cajun cuisine, there is Bon Appetit “good appetite” (you’ll need a good appetite and a roll of Tums to stomach the spicy heat). The most popular phrase used by Cajuns is “Laissez les bon temps rouler” (lay-zay lay bon ton rule-ay) “let the good times roll”…not to be confused with the fictitious Louisiana town of Bon Temps where Sookie Stackhouse hangs out with her vampire friends…although they frequently let the good times roll there as well.

Last, but most important, there are great people in Louisiana. HeartLa, the Baton Rouge chapter of Romance Writers of America, has been my home away from home. I have learned from them, laughed with them, and served as their secretary. They are friends that I will greatly miss. Without them, I will be that mysterious billionaire author (I’m aiming high) who hasn’t been seen by anyone in a long time…except for my closest relatives—I don’t want them knocking down my door because I’m not answering texts, and I didn’t attend the family reunion. (Note: I will be a recluse without my writing friends, but I’m not peeing in quart jars…that was a special kind of crazy reserved for Howard Hughes.)